


Maple Cookies

by Cinnabunni



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Tension, Cookies, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Glasses, I know that Yoshio isn't the best dad but he's trying...sort of, Kyoya had braces when he was a kid and I will DIE for this headcanon, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Minor Original Character(s), Nervousness, Ootori Akito is Protective, Protective Older Brothers, Sort Of, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29236086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnabunni/pseuds/Cinnabunni
Summary: As Kaoru waited for someone to answer the door, he twirled the strings on his hoodie around his finger, and suddenly realized that he was very underdressed for this occasion. This day could only end well.~~~In which Kaoru is anxious of meeting Kyoya's family, Fuyumi is excited to meet her brother’s boyfriend, Kyoya is slowly dying from embarrassment, Yuuichi just wants to show Kaoru that they're family isn't all that bad, and Akito is protective over his baby brother (and Yoshio thinks his youngest son might be gay).
Relationships: Hitachiin Hikaru & Hitachiin Kaoru, Hitachiin Kaoru & Ootori Akito, Hitachiin Kaoru & Ootori Fuyumi, Hitachiin Kaoru & Ootori Kyouya, Hitachiin Kaoru & Ootori Yuuichi, Hitachiin Kaoru/Ootori Kyouya, Ootori Akito & Ootori Fuyumi & Ootori Kyoya & Ootori Yuuichi, Ootori Akito & Ootori Kyouya, Ootori Fuyumi & Ootori Kyouya, Ootori Kyouya & Ootori Yuuichi
Kudos: 34





	Maple Cookies

Kaoru watched the scenery pass through the window, as the car drew nearer to the Ootori residence. He watched the trees and fences, trying to focus on anything other than what was going to happen. He felt his brother’s hand on his shoulder, trying to be comforting. 

“You know, I can always go with you,” Hikaru suggested. Kaoru shook his head.

“No, I don’t think Kyoya would like it that we’re both there. Besides, this is something that I should do alone.”   
  
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Hikaru said. “But if you need me to bail you out, just give me a call, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll be sure to call.” Kaoru was silent for a few moments, then gave a sigh. “I just--I’m meeting Kyoya’s family! The Shadow King’s family! How am I supposed to survive? God, they’re all gonna hate me.”

“Hey, I’m gonna stop you right there, Kao. You’ll do fine, I promise! Though, I  _ do _ kinda wonder what Kyoya-senpai’s siblings are like though...Promise that you won’t leave out any of the details, okay?”

Kaoru gave a chuckle. “Yeah, yeah, I promise.” The car started to slow down, and Kaoru realized they were entering the Ootori property, as they passed through the gate. 

“We’re here,” the driver spoke, as the car stopped in front of the giant house. He stared at it for a few moments, then reached for the door.

“Thank you,” he said, with the driver answering it with only a nod. He turned to his brother. “I’ll call you when I’m ready to be picked up, okay? Or when I want to leave; whichever comes first.”

“Sounds good. Good luck!” Kaoru gave a wave as he got out of the car, and closed the door behind him. Walking up the stairs to the front door, he could hear the car drive off. He took a deep breath, and gave a knock. He twirled the strings that belonged to his sleeveless hoodie that he wore around his fingers, waiting anxiously for someone to open the door. He suddenly felt like he wore the wrong attire; his black t-shirt, along with a pink hoodie with sleeves that were cut off so they were just passing his shoulders, while is fine to wear in this sort of heat in the summer, probably won’t bode well, especially with what he’s seen with Kyoya’s family.

God, just thinking of Kyoya’s father and what happened at the Ouran Fair made him angry and so upset. But, he couldn’t think about that now. He had to make a good impression on his boyfriend’s family, after all. 

Kaoru soon realized that no one had answered the door. Maybe they hadn’t heard him? Kaoru knew that Kyoya’s staff wouldn’t just ignore him, of course not. Giving a louder knock, he heard faint voices coming from inside. He couldn’t make out what they were saying exactly, but they were definitely loud. 

A few seconds later, a staff member opened the door. “Good afternoon!” she said, a smile on her face.

Suddenly, there was a voice that called out, down inside of the house. “If it’s someone who needs to see our father, tell them that he’s out right now!” The maid took a look at Kaoru, and gave a smile.

“I’m sure you’re not here for business reasons with Mr. Ootori,” she said, and gave a small chuckle. “Come right in; Mr. Kyoya said that he would be having a guest over. I’ll take you up to his room.” She let him inside, and he awkwardly followed her. He was familiar with the house--he had been here a few times with the other club members to pick up Kyoya at times--but he didn’t want to be rude or say anything, so he just quietly followed her.

But before he could even reach the stairs, he had passed the kitchen area, where Fuyumi was. She wore a simple green dress, along with a white cardigan, and had a black apron on while she was working on food. Noticing him, she gave a bright smile, and took off her potholders and walked over, fixing her hair that rested on her shoulders as she did so. 

“Oh, you’re from Kyoya’s club! Kyoya did say he was bringing someone over. Emi, you can go now, I can handle our guest.” Giving a bow, Emi quickly left. Fuyumi looked over to Kaoru. “So! You’re Kyoya’s boyfriend, right?” Before Kaoru could even answer, there was a voice from another room, from across the hallway; it was the same voice from earlier, when he was at the door.

“What! Kyoya has a boyfriend?” A head poked out from a room down the hallway. His hair, while somewhat nice, didn’t seem to be as controlled or styled, not as well compared to Kyoya’s or Fuyumi’s, anyway. Fuyumi gesterared at Kaoru.

“Yeah, this is Kyoya’s boyfriend!”

“Hi,” he said, quietly, as he gave an awkward wave. The older brother stared at him for a few moments.

“Since when did Kyoya have a boyfriend? Since when was Kyoya  _ gay?” _

“Akito, we all knew that Kyoya was gay from the beginning, don’t act like this is news to you.”

"This  _ is _ news to me!"

Fuyumi turned her attention to Kaoru. "Why don't you meet my brothers? C'mon." She led him over to the room where Akito was, and gestured for him to sit down. The room had a large coffee table in the middle, with two large couches on either side, and an armchair on one of the other ends. (Kaoru could assume that this room would be usually used for business, but for now it's being used as a living room area). Akito had walked back and sat back down at one of the couches, and started to read a book off from the table. In the armchair, sat another Ootori sibling; he seemed to be the oldest, from what Kaoru could tell. He had a laptop on his lap; he was completely focused on his work--Kaoru wasn't sure if he even noticed him walk in--as he type fast, glasses having a small sheen to them from the glare of the laptop. Both of the brothers wore nice, crisp suits, and Kaoru realizes that he definitely should have worn something a little bit more formal. Kaoru sat down on the unoccupied couch, awkwardly just staring down at his lap and hands that rested there. Akito had looked up from his book. 

"So, you're Kyoya's boyfriend," he said. He titled his head a little. "You look…familiar."

The eldest looked up for a few moments to look at Kaoru, then went back to work. "He's Kaoru Hitachiin," he stated. "He and his twin brother, Hikaru Hitachiin, are the heirs to their mother’s, Yuzuha Hitachiin, fashion business. 

"He's in class 1-A, the same class as his twin brother and the girl Haruhi Fujioka. He does very well in his class, despite being a prankster. His extracurricular activities consist of being a part of Kyoya's club, the Host Club. I could go on, but I believe you have the gist of it all." Wow. So apparently doing extensive research was just an Ootori thing, not only a Kyoya thing. The man gave Kaoru a polite, businesslike smile (Kaoru recognized that smile; it's the same sort of smile Kyoya always gave to their clients when he was busy working but  _ had _ to be nice to them). "My name is Yuuichi. Pleasure to meet you, Kaoru. This is my brother, Akito, and my sister Fuyumi, but I'm sure you're already  acquaintanced with them."

Akito gave a small scoff. "So he's from that dumb club of his? Why am I not surprised?" 

"Now Akito, don't be rude, especially with a guest over," Yuuichi said, and turned back over to Kaoru. "I apologize for my brother's behavior; he has a few negative feelings for your club."

Kaoru just gave a curt nod, and his best smile that he could muster. God, why was he so nervous? Sure, social interactions were always harder when he was alone, without his brother being there to support him, but he was still always able to keep his cool, and hold a conversation. But now? He’s never been as nervous ever since the time he and his brother were separated when they were twelve during a fair, when they lost each other. He hasn’t felt this freaked out since that incident.

Akito turned his attention to Kaoru, and gave a smile. His smile was different compared to Yuuichi’s (who was now back to work); his smile was more menacing, more threatening, but still seemed to try and hold some sort of politeness. “So, what’s Kyoya been up to, hm?”

Fuyumi rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with Kyoya’s life; why don’t you just let him open up to you himself? He won’t do that if you keep snooping around.”

“Okay, first of all, you’re being a huge hypocrite right now, telling me not to learn more about my baby brother while you snoop around all the time when you come over, second of all, we all know Kyoya won’t say shit to us so,” he gestured to Kaoru, and gave another unsettling smile, “why not learn more through his boyfriend? So! What’s Kyo been up to?”

“Uhh…” Kaoru racked his brain for any sort of information to tell Akito, but nothing came to mind. 

“I’m going to go check on the cookies,” Fuyumi said, excusing herself. Akito kept his eyes trained on Kaoru, his eyes seemingly to ominously gleam. 

“How’s he doing academically? Are his favorite classes still Physics and German? What about English? He enjoys that class too, if I remember correctly. I wouldn’t doubt that his grades haven't changed, that little over achiever...how’s his club doing? He runs the finances, right? How’s that going for him?”

Yuuichi gave a sigh. “Akito, stop it; you’re scary the poor boy.”

Akito frowned. “What? I’m just asking him some questions about Kyoya; it’s not like Kyoya will tell me himself.”

“You’re being rude and won’t let him speak--he doesn't even want to speak in the first place!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I can just easily research and find all the information I want on him in seconds, but Kyoya won't say shit!"

Yuuichi gave a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you make yourself useful and bring me down my paperwork from my room, okay?" Akito gave Yuuichi a cold glare, one that sent chills down Kaoru's spine--now he knows where Kyoya gets the glare. But Yuuichi was unamused by this, and rolled his eyes as he went back to work. Giving a small huff, he got up and left the room, leaving Kaoru and Yuuichi alone.

"I must apologize for my brother's actions," Yuuichi started. "I would say that he's normally better than this, but then I would be lying. Akito wants to be very involved in our little brother's life, even if Kyoya refuses." 

Kaoru gave a small nod, starting to relax just a bit. "I know the feeling. I think that once Ageha is older, me and Hikaru will be like that, too. I guess it's just a thing big brothers do."

Yuuichi gave another business smile. "Yes, you have a little sister, don't you? I almost forgot. How old is she now?"

"She's turning two later this year," Kaoru answered, a smile on his face. He was starting to relax more and more. Fuyumi then came in, holding a plate of cookies.

“So, after some research, I found out you were a fan of maple syrup; so, I made some maple cookies, and replaced the sugar with some maple syrup.”

Kaoru grabbed one immediately when she placed the plate down onto the table. After taking a bite, he gave her a smile. “Wow, these are amazing, Fuyumi! These are great, better than most I’ve eaten.”

She gave a smile. “Oh, thank you Kaoru, you’re so sweet. I’m glad you like them.”

Akito had entered the room now, and handed the papers over to Yuuichi. “Yumi’s probably the best cook and baker out of the whole family, honestly,” Akito said, grabbing the plate, and bringing it over with him as he sat back down. Fuyumi gave a sigh as Akito started to eat them. He turned over to Kaoru. "So, where were we?"

"The part where you were harassing Kyoya's boyfriend, I believe," Yuuichi said, making Akito glare at him. 

"I’m not harassing him, I'm questioning him."

"You're obsessive and trying to pry too much into Kyoya's life." Akito scoffed, as Fuyumi took the plates from him, and placed it back onto the table. Kaoru grabbed another cookie. Before Akito could say anything, he was interrupted.

"So, was anyone going to tell me that Kaoru was here or were you planning to keep my boyfriend hostage?"

“Hello Kyoya,” Yuuichi greeted.

“Kyoya! So glad to see you,” Fuyumi said.

“Glad to see that you finally joined us,” Akito added.

“Well, it’s not like any of you told me that he arrived.”

“Hey, Kyoya!” Kaoru said, giving him a smile. Kyoya stood in the doorway, next to Fuyumi. He wore a white dress shirt, with a dark blue, long-sleeved sweater on top of it. The cuffs of his dress shirt and collar folded in, over the sweater. He gave a small smile to Kaoru, then turned his attention to his brothers. 

“I’d preferred if you told me that Kaoru arrived next time,” he said. Akito gave a shrug, as Yuuichi continued to work. “I also would rather you not interrogate him, Akito.”

“Just making sure he’s fit for you, Kyo,” Akito said.

Yuuichi gave a wave of a hand. “I’m trying to work. Just take him up to your room or something, just be quiet.” Kyoya gave a nod.

“Of course,” he answered. “Kaoru and I will head upstairs until dinner is ready.” He paused for a few minutes. “We’ll be taking the cookies with us as well.”

“What? You can’t just take the cookies!”

“Well, we are,” he answered coolly. Akito sent his younger brother a glare (one that Kaoru recognizes easily; it’s the same that Kyoya uses), and sent chills up Kaoru’s spine, but Kyoya just grabbed the plate and started to walk off. “Kaoru,” he prompted, and Kaoru gave a nod, a small wave to Fuyumi and the others (Yuuichi didn’t notice, still working), and left the room with Kyoya. He followed him quietly up the stairs, up to his bedroom. He sat down on Kyoya’s bed with a sigh, and grabbed a cookie from the plate that Kyoya had placed down on his bedside table.

“Your siblings are so tiring,” Kaoru commented, taking a bite of the cookie. “Especially Akito--he’s kinda an asshole, y’know.”

“Yes, well, I’m not the biggest fan of Hikaru, but I don’t say anything about him,” Kyoya said, sitting on the other side of the bed. “I prefer if you didn’t talk that way about my siblings; though they can be a pain at times, they’re still very dear to me and would rather not hear you speak about like that.”

Kaoru gave a nod. He understood where Kyoya was coming from--even though Hikaru could be a pain in the ass, he still would attack anyone on sight if they said anything bad about him. “Alright, I won't say anything.” He grabbed the plate, taking another cookie. “Meeting them’s pretty stressful, though.”

“Well, I never said that meeting them wouldn’t be; my family is very...uptight. Meeting them is understandably stressful.” Kyoya grabbed the plate from Kaoru, making the other boy pout. “Stop eating so much, dinner should be done soon; should be done when my father gets back, actually. Speaking of which,” he placed the cookies down, onto the other side of the bed, and faced Kaoru. “We need to talk about how we’re going to tell my father about our relationship.”

Kaoru gave a shrug. He reached for another cookie, only to be lightly smacked away by Kyoya. “Don’t we just tell him that we’re dating and call it day?”

“My main concerns are over my father now accepting us,” Kyoya stated. “We need to proceed with caution, be slow with it. I honestly don’t know how my dad will feel about this, so we need to be careful with this.”

“Can’t we just tell him? Just rip the band-aid off, you know?” Kaoru offered.

“Kaoru, I know you’ve never properly met him, but I’m sure you can imagine what he’s like. Ripping off the band-aid won’t end well with him.” He gave a sigh. “I suppose if things go awry you can jump in and just tell him; go with your plan if all else fails.”

Kaoru quickly snuck his hand to grab a cookie, and ignored Kyoya’s small glare. “I’m sure it’ll go fine; we have your siblings to back us up.”

“Yuuichi will be busy with work to even be paying attention to what’s happening and Akito is a wild card; I have no idea what he’ll do if things go badly for us, but I don’t think it will be helpful.”

“You’re so negative all the time,” Kaoru said with a frown. “Have more faith in your brothers! I’m sure they’ll have our backs; if not, then Fuyumi will.”

“I very much doubt that my father will listen to anything Fuyumi says, but I suppose you’re right,” he admitted. He gave a sigh. “My brothers mean well, but I’m not sure if they’ll help us; if they try, it won’t end well.”

Before Kaoru could say anything else, there was a small knock on the door. The maid from before, Emi if Kaoru remembered correctly, opened the door a small bit to poke her head in.

“Master Kyoya? Mr. Ootori is back,” she spoke, “dinner is going to be served in a few minutes.”

“Thank you Emi, if that’s all you may leave.” She gave a bow and left. Kyoya looked over to Kaoru.

“You ready to meet my father, then?”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready,” he said, but then gestured to his pink, short-sleeved hoodie. “I don’t think I’m really dressed for the occasion, though; really should’ve just listened to my gut and not Hikaru…” 

Kyoya pressed a small kiss on his forehead. “If it makes you feel better, I like your outfit.”

Kaoru could feel heat rise to his face, a small smile forming on his face. “Thanks, Kyoya--”

“But I’m sure my father won’t be happy with it.”

Kaoru stared at him, the smile gone. “Gee, thanks,” he deadpanned. Kyoya got up from the bed, and tugged Kaoru’s hands to bring him up as well.

“Come on, we really shouldn’t be late for dinner,” he said. Kaoru gave a nod, and followed him to head downstairs for dinner.

He silently hoped that it would go well.

~~~

Dinner, at first, was silent. Yoshio sat at the head of the table, eating the food as he kept trained eyes on Kaoru. Yuuichi, as he ate, grumbled quietly to himself, complaining about not being able to work while he ate, and being behind schedule. Akito and Fuyumi were quietly eating as well, quietly eyeing their little brother and their father, hoping that nothing too bad will happen.

“So, Mr. Hitachiin,” Yoshio said, breaking the silence and making Kaoru snap his attention to the man, “you and your brother are heirs to your mother’s fashion business, correct?”

“Yeah, we are,” he answered, watching Yoshio with worried eyes. Kyoya, who sat next to him, gave him a small glance to reassure him, and went back to eating. Kaoru knew that this was probably the most he could really do to assure him--he most likely didn’t want to take the chance of his father noticing him giving affection or even the smallest gesture to comfort.

Yoshio gave a hum at this answer, taking a sip of his drink. "That business is good, your mother's work is quite admirable I must admit."

"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Ootori."

"One question though," he said, making Kaoru worry even more. Kyoya continued to stare at his food, and Kaoru swore that he heard Akito mumble something under his breath, but went unnoticed. "It's strange to have  _ two _ heirs, is it not? How do you suppose that would work out?"

"I uhh...actually never thought about that," he answered, giving a sheepish smile. "My brother Hikaru and I were just always told that we would be the ones to run the business. So I just assumed that we would be doing it together." 

“It’s hard to see two people running a company together.”

“Well, I suppose if it came down to being one heir, Hikaru would be the one to run the company.”

“And what would you do then?”

“I’m…not sure,” he admitted. “I never thought about that before. Maybe graphic design? I would still like to work with the fashion design area though; I just never thought about it.”

Yoshio gave another hum. “You’re supposedly one of the heirs to the company, and yet if you don’t have your future planned out?”

Kaoru paused. “I…-”

Yuuichi gave a small sigh to himself. “Please Father, can we not interrogate him? He’s a guest, not a business partner, and we should treat him as so.” Kaoru could just stare at his food as he continued to eat. Maybe if his mouth was full then he wouldn’t have to answer any more questions. Damn it, he was supposed to be better than this. He was supposed to be outspoken and good with his words, not nervous or reserved or tongue-tied like this. God, why couldn’t he speak with confidence like he always does? (Yoshio staring him down and his demeanor probably didn’t make it any better.)

Kyoya cleared his throat, catching his father’s attention. He adjusted his glasses, even though they were already fixed perfectly from adjusting them time and time again--something that he does when he’s nervous, Kaoru had noticed. “I wanted to tell you something about me and Karou.”

Yoshio gave a small, curt nod. “What is it?”

Kyoya took a deep breath. Kaoru gave a small brush of his hand against Kyoya’s that rested on his thigh, to try and comfort and support him as best he could. “Well, I know you aren’t a fan of the host club-”

“If this is about that club of yours, then I prefer that we do not talk about it, not now,” Yoshio interrupted. 

“I...know that, Father. But Kaoru and I need to-”

“Kyoya,” Akito cut off, making Kyoya immediately turn and glare at him. “You should probably just drop it.”

“Akito-”

“Kyoya. Just drop it.” Kyoya and Akito glared at each other, as Kaoru and the others silently watched. He heard Yuuichi give a small sigh beside him, as he continued to eat his food with a shake of his head. Yoshio gave a small, disappointed noise, but didn’t say anything. Dinner was quiet for the rest of the time, with Fuyumi trying to give small smiles and looks as if to help calm down her brothers, but all Kyoya and Akito mainly did was send death glares to one another. 

When dinner was finished, and the butlers and maids were taking away the plates, Akito was quick to look over to Kyoya and Kaoru with a fake smile.

“Kyoya? Wanna come with me upstairs real quick so we can talk?”

Kyoya stood up, and gave a small gesture for Kaoru to do the same. “Of course,” he answered, and turned to his father. “If it’s alright with you, I wish to speak to you afterwards in your office.”

Yoshio gave a nod, and a hand flick as to dismiss him. “Yes, we can talk about whatever it was you wanted to later this evening.”

“Thank you,” he said, and turned to Kaoru. “Are you going to come with us upstairs?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I’ll come.”

“Good, c’mon then,” he said, and left for the stairs, where his brother was already heading up the stairs. Kyoya and Kaoru were quick to follow.

Yoshio watched his two sons and Kaoru go upstairs to talk. He gave a small hum to himself; if his suspicions were correct, then that Hitachiin boy would be a fine partner for his youngest son.

~~~

Akito held his door open, as to let Kaoru and Kyoya in, and closed it behind them. Kaoru looked around the room as he entered in; it was clean and neat, just like every other room in this house, with monochrome colors filling the room. Papers and an open laptop that was shut off was on a desk nearby his black-and-white canopy bed. A bedside table held many books, along with a framed photo on it.

“What the hell was that?” Kyoya immediately asked. Kaoru looked around and wondered a bit as he took in the bland, colorless room.

Akito ran his hand through his hair. “What do you mean, ‘what the hell was that?’ I should be the one asking that, Kyoya! What the hell were  _ you _ doing?”

“Trying to tell Father that Kaoru and I are in a relationship, which for some reason you don’t seem to want.”

The room would be a  _ lot  _ better with more color, Kaoru had decided. More dark and light blues as accents for the room. Hell, even more greys would be better, not just only blacks and whites. Maybe add a vase of flowers to add a little bit of green to the room.

“We both know why that’s a bad idea, Kyo,” Akito said. Kyoya started to pace back and forth in the room in frustration.

“What do you think was the whole point of bringing my boyfriend here? So he could meet you, Fuyumi and Yuuichi, and Father. Why wouldn’t we tell him? Yes, there are many things that could go wrong--do you think I haven’t thought and put those into consideration?”

“You decided to bring up that club of yours first! You clearly did not know what you were doing.”

Upon closer inspection, the bedside had a lock on the only drawer it had--Kaoru could only guess what was inside of it. Now that he was closer to it, he noticed what the picture was, and picked up the frame to inspect it. Four bright smiles were obvious in it, seeming to be taken outside with a bright blue sky and grass underneath them. It was hard to tell when it was taken or how old they were, but it was pretty obvious it was the Ootori siblings; he could assume that Kyoya was pretty young--maybe nine or ten?--based off of Fuyumi and Akito wearing the Ouran middle school uniforms. What caught most of his attention though was of Kyoya, not only smiling and seeming so happy, but was wearing braces in the photo. Kyoya Ootori. Wearing  _ braces.  _ He really wants to take a picture of this, to show Hikaru, but he had a feeling that Kyoya wouldn’t be happy with that.

There was a small noise at the door. “I know what I’m doing Akito, I don’t need you babying me every three seconds,” Kyoya said, walking over to the door and opening it. “I don’t need your help. Whatever consequences happen, happen.” A cat, black as night with two, giant yellow eyes walked in, and Kyoya closed the door again. The cat began to rub against Kyoya’s legs, meowing loudly.

“Oh, so now it’s  _ my  _ fault that I wanna help you out. I’m trying to make sure that you don’t fuck up and ruin coming out to Dad!” He suddenly turned to Kaoru. “Kaoru, was it? Put that picture down before you break it.”

Kaoru paused, and slowly put the framed picture down. “Do you have more pictures like these somewhere?” he asked. Akito stared at him for a few moments, thinking.

“Kyoya probably doesn’t want you seeing old photos…”

“No, I do not.”

“Then I’ll email you some later this week. I have digital copies of all of the pictures we have saved on one of my drives, so I can send you plenty.”

Kaoru gave a smile, as Kyoya gave a sigh, as he picked up his cat, who started to purr and rub against his arms affectionately. “There’s no winning with you, is there?”

“Nope,” he answered with a small smile. “There’s no winning. Now hurry up, Dad’s probably waiting for you impatiently in his office.” Kyoya opened his mouth to say something, but his brother cut him off. “Don’t worry, I can handle our guest; besides, I wanna talk to him, one-on-one. You go, Dad doesn’t like being kept waiting.”

Kyoya was unmoving for a few moments, then gave a nod. He placed his cat down, and bent down to scratch behind its ears. “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “Make sure Noir doesn’t get into my room please. I’ll see you in a bit, Kaoru, to see you out.”

When Kyoya left the room, Akito gave a sigh, pushing the cat--Noir, Kaoru noted--off his bed. “God, this cat sheds everywhere. The second we’re done I’m putting her into Kyoya’s room.” Akito looked over to Kaoru, giving him a business-like smile; not like Yuuichi’s or Kyoya’s though, a more ominous, intimidating smile that seemed to almost threaten Kaoru that if he did anything wrong, there would be consequences. 

“So,” he started, voice feigning cheerfulness. “Time for the mandatory, ‘Do anything wrong to my baby brother then I’ll ruin your life and kill you’ speech. Sit down.” Kaoru immediately took a seat on the office chair that was next to Akito’s desk.

“Listen, Akito, you and Yuuichi can do all the research you want on me, you’ll see that I’m not a bad person. Yeah me and my brother like to mess around with people, but we're good people! I wouldn't purposely hurt Kyoya. Mostly because Kyoya would get his revenge as well on me, not just you and Yuuichi and Fuyumi."

Akito gave a small hum. "Yeah, you're right. I don't doubt for a second that my brother could ruin you. But just so you know, and listen very closely Hitachiin," he said, giving a cold, icy glare, "If you dare do anything, so as to upset him or hurt him in any way, I will make sure that you regret it. I will ruin you in every single way possible. I will make you suffer.”

“...I promise you, I’ll never do that. I won’t do that to him.”

Akito gave another hum at this answer, and was interrupted by a knock. Yuuichi opened and walked in. “I figured you'd still be up here with him,” he said, following it with a small sigh. “Come on, we should head downstairs.” He faced Kaoru, saying, “Your ride should be arriving soon, correct?” When Kaoru checked the time--God, when did it get so late?--he gave a nod. “Good. Akito, you can go fetch Kyoya so he can see our guest off. I’ll handle him for now.”

Akito gave a small nod, getting up and heading out, giving Kaoru one last cold glance. When he was gone, Kaoru got up to leave, and Yuuichi gave him the same business smile that he always had. “Let’s head down, then.” As Kaoru followed out the door, Yuuichi stopped, causing Kaoru to stop as well. “Oh, by the way,” he started, “Everything Akito said is true; we  _ will  _ make your life a living hell if you do anything wrong to Kyoya.”

“Yeah, I definitely don’t doubt that…” Kaoru muttered to himself, and continued to head down the stairs. The car probably hasn’t arrived yet, but he had a small feeling that Hikaru might show up a few minutes early. It’s something he would do, so he wouldn’t put it past his brother.

Kaoru waited back in the living room area, quietly snacking on the cookies that Fuyumi had brought in that sadly weren’t the maple ones, but were instead oatmeal cookies (he quietly wished that he was able to pour some maple syrup on them but didn’t ask for any), while Yuuichi quietly did his work. When Kyoya arrived downstairs, he sat down next to Kaoru. 

“I talked to my father,” he started, “And he asked me about our relationship.”

“What did you tell him?” Kaoru asked.

“The truth; that we’re dating and have been for a while now.”

“How did he take it?”

“I’m...not entirely sure. He didn’t seem angered by the news, but he also didn’t really give any positive reactions, either.”

“I don’t think he ever gives positive reactions, Kyo,” Kaoru said dryly, making Fuyumi try and hold in her laugh, cracking a smile at the redhead.

“In the end, he didn’t seem too bothered.”

“Maybe he’s fine with you two in a relationship,” Fuyumi proposed. Kyoya gave a small hum.

“I suppose so. Still, it caught me by surprise how he was fine with it.”

“Maybe he just needs time to go over it,” Yuuichi said, the keys of his laptop clicking loudly as he kept his eyes trained on the screen. “I mean, you did just come out to him, and told him that you were dating a Hitachiin--he most likely just needs time to think.” He looked up and gave a smile at Kaoru. “At least he didn’t ask you to his office where he could speak to you one-on-one.”

Kaoru shivered at the thought. That was something that he definitely was not prepared for. Just then, one of the maids--who wasn’t Emi--entered the room.

“Mr. Hitachiin, your ride has arrived,” she said, “I can see you out, if you wish.”

“No, that’s fine, thank you though,” he answered. She gave a bow and left. “Didn’t realize how late it got...I enjoyed myself though, thank you for this Kyoya.”

“I have to admit, I thought that this wouldn’t have ended this well, especially with my brothers, and I’m happy to have had you over,” Kyoya said with a smile. The two got up, Kaoru gave his goodbyes to Fuyumi and Yuuichi, and they went to the foyer. Kaoru paused in front of the door, and turned over to Kyoya with a smile.

“Again, thanks for this. I actually enjoyed myself, surprisingly.”

“Well, I’m sure things would’ve been worse if Fuyumi didn’t make those cookies for you.”

He gave Kyoya a smile. “Well, you being there for me definitely helped.”

“As if I would leave you alone with my brothers, or my sister, for that matter.” 

“Still, thank you Kyoya.” Kaoru leaned in and gave a quick kiss. He started to walk off, over to the car. “See you later, Kyoya!” 

Kaoru entered the car, closing the door behind him. He looked out the window, only to see the front door of Ootori residence closing asKyoya went back in.

“So? How was it?” Hikaru asked as soon as the car started to move. “What were his siblings like?” He grimaced. “Did you have to talk to his dad?”

“No, not this time at least,” Kaoru answered. He gave a sigh, leaning back and finally letting himself relax. “Fuyumi made me cookies with maple syrup, though.”

“What!” Hikaru shocked his head with a sigh of disappointment. “You should’ve brought me some, Kao.”

“Next time I will, don’t worry,” he promised. He gave a small smile when he remembered something. “Akito said he was gonna send me some pictures of Kyoya, when he was younger.”

Hikaru perked up at this. “Blackmail?” he asked.

“Don’t know if we could blackmail the shadow king…” he said, “and I think as his boyfriend I’m not allowed to do that to him.” He gave a small smoke. “But I don’t think he’ll mind that I tell you that he wore braces as a kid.”

Hikaru struggled to keep his laughter down. “He  _ what?  _ Kyoya Ootori wore  _ braces?”  _

Kaoru gave his twin a smile. “There’s gonna be a lot more where that came from,” he said. And as he talked about all the little details of what had happened, he found himself smiling and laughing along with his brother. It was an enjoyable time in the end, even with the threats of Kyoya’s older brothers.

It was a nice evening in the end, Kaoru had decided. He wouldn’t mind going back here for dinner again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Sorry that posting never posting, this fic took way too long to write lol  
> I hope I didn’t write them too ooc. This is my first time writing them in a long time, so I’m not sure if Kaoru or Kyoya are really in character (to me Kaoru feels a bit ooc, especially in the end, but please tell me what you think!) And especially with Akito and Yuuichi; since I never read the manga series I purely based them off their wiki pages and my personal headcanons (which I have a lot of), so please tell me if I made them out of character!  
> Also, fun fact, I learned about Ageha through the wiki for ohshc, and said that she was 15 years younger than them, but later learned that in the manga said that she was born when they were in college, but by then I was already almost finished and didn’t want to take that part out so...oops?  
> Same thing goes with Noir; I think from the manga it’s supposed to be more in the future but I really like the idea of Kyoya having a cat and I couldn’t pass up the chance of writing about Kyoya with his cat (also I think Noir was the cat’s name? Like I’ve said, I never read the manga series so please correct me if I’m wrong).  
> I really hope that you liked this fic! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. Thank you!


End file.
